LSU has been very proud of itself lately. 
It chose its first Black president. Middleton Library was renamed because its namesake supported segregationist policies during his 1952-1961 presidential tenure. It has allocated more resources into minority-serving programs on campus, most notably with its Diversity & Inclusion Roadmap.
At first glance, it seems like the university has done everything to support social justice causes. 
Following the outburst of public attention on issues of systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020, the university launched a campaign to make sure students, faculty, and the wider public understood its position in support of racial equality.
In 2020, the university invited Black campus leaders to design a plan to address and alleviate institutionalized racism, diversity, and equality. Among the many suggestions made, Black students demanded that the university increase its “ratio of minority professionals in every academic area.” 
Additional petitions included increased funding for minority programs on campus, accessible resources specifically for minority students, better awareness of and administrative involvement in racism across campus, and a Black student representative in all administrative decisions with campus-wide implications. 
Has our university met these promises in the year since these petitions were made?
Using the acceptance of the 2025 class as a measure, we have failed miserably.
According to the Office of Communications & University Relations, LSU “shatte[red] records with fall enrollment,” admitting the largest share of minority students in the university’s history. Vice Provost for Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer Dereck J. Rovaris said in a statement that “at a time when other schools are scrambling for enrollment and in particular students of color, every year we are breaking records on both fronts.” 
I think the administration wants a pat on the back; I, too, can shatter my personal annual gym attendance record by going to the UREC twice this year.
In diversity, the class of 2025 only has 18.8% of black students in it—that’s 13.42 percentage points below the state percentage of Black residents. If you compare our Black enrollment to the number of Black residents in Baton Rouge, the lag increases to 35.86 percentage points.
Are we supposed to be proud of this?
Yes, we’ve made some progress by increasing the share of Black undergraduate students on campus by 2%. Nonetheless, a lot more work lies ahead. 
It’s like when I boast to my parents after getting an A in econometrics yet fail both my micro and macroeconomics tests later in the day. The university has been too proud of its mediocre accomplishments in addressing race, diversity, equality, and inclusion and may not have anything substantial to show in the long run.
Samuel Camacho is a 21-year-old economics junior from Maracaibo, Venezuela.